Karachi: flood management and governance

A new debate has erupted over managing floods in Karachi and the directions of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to clear waste from the drains of Karachi due to heavy rainfall. Acrimonious discussions with a blame game against each other were witnessed on TV talk shows between the representatives of the PTI government, the PPP government in Sindh as well as the MQM.

The PPP sees sinister design behind the move to undermine the authority and image of the Sindh government, portraying it as an example of poor governance. Their contention was that Lahore had also been inundated with floods but neither hue and cry was created nor was FWO sent there. Their argument had been that whatever and wherever something goes wrong, the federal government finds the Sindh government as a punching bag to divert people’s attention from their own failures. Be it the sugar crisis, wheat shortage, fuel shortage, rising food inflation or the postings and transfers, the federal government tries to pass the buck to the Sindh government.

The general public is watching all the melodrama with anguish and anxiety. The intervention of the federal government would have gone unnoticed, had it not been with a political motive, belittling the Sindh government. The federal government and provinces do not work in tight compartments, rather they supplement each other within the contours of the Constitution and law. But, when the Governor of Sindh — instead of acting as a representative of the federal government and constitutional head of the province bound to act on the advice of the Chief Executive of the province — starts issuing statements to browbeat the Chief Minister, then it certainly develops irritation and is not taken in a normal course.

No doubt, Karachi, being a metropolitan city has its own problems, but similar problems also exist in all cities of Pakistan. Karachi being the biggest city and economic hub attracts migrants from all over the country and has expanded in all directions without proper town planning. Therefor the problems of Karachi are of a greater magnitude.

Within the ambit of the Constitution it is the responsibility of the Government of Sindh and the local government to provide civic amenities to their citizens, which of course include waste management, desilting and clearance of drains. Rainfall in Karachi causing floods is not a rare phenomenon, it happens with recurrence. This nature of problem may be described as a calamity, hence falling within the purview of the NDMA. In this context, preparedness is one of the essentials of disaster management followed by prevention, mitigation of sufferings and community awareness. But, unfortunately governments have been found negligent in their preparation to deal with such crises.

Disaster management or crisis management has a direct co-relation with governance. Governance is all about delivery within time and action of all tiers of government in unison to add synergy to their efforts. In such a situation KMC, DHA, Cantonments, Port Qasim Authority, Irrigation Department and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) with a lead role of the provincial government should have set a strategy to deal with such an eventuality.

The Sindh government could have easily managed excavators, dumpers or other machinery available on rent in the market. Roughly the rent of an excavator is not more than Rs500,000 per week. If the funds were not available with the respective departments, the Chief Minister should have set aside the funds from his own discretionary grant or re-appropriated in order to escape criticism.

While the Sindh government has its own share of blame, the NDMA has its own role to play. The authority has its own National Disaster and Risk Management plan. According to the Act and plan, the PDMA and the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) are the coordinating units. Therefore, NDMA has to work through those bodies. In such a scenario, NDMA should have shifted all the resources to PDMA and FWO should have also been at the disposal of the provincial government to avoid political point scoring.

Although with a knee-jerk reaction to the malaise symptomatic treatment has been meted out, the main cause has not been removed. This problem has erupted due to massive encroachments in the nullahs, drains, riverbed, poor designing and construction of roads and bridges. This again is a reflection of poor governance. Rule of law is the foundation of governance. We have all kinds of laws but implementation is missing, hence this mess. As the saying goes, “nip the evil in the bud” but the departments assigned to do the task close their eyes to the initial violation and with the passage of time the problem grows such magnitude that all wonder what to do.

Karachi being a port city is now considered to be a city of all. The population of the city is growing at a fast pace, so are the problems. Governments, particularly city governments in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, have been managing well. Why not we? A deeper study of their governance reveals the underlying factor: adherence to the rule of law. It is high time for all stakeholders, including the federal government, to implement the law and remove all encroachments done in violation of the law and set aside funds ahead of the monsoon rains. This is the only way out and a permanent solution. This applies to all cities of Pakistan, including the federal capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2020.

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